Gerrymandering American Government Unit 2 Redistricting vs Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering American Government Unit 2

Redistricting vs. Gerrymandering Redistricting is the changing n A form of redistricting in which of political boundaries. electoral district (or constituency boundaries) are manipulated to form an n This redistribution usually electoral advantage for some occurs after a census in order to keep voting districts particular group (illegal when affecting racial or ethnic apportioned equally. balance). n n This process is controlled by n Typically the elected officials. draw district lines to benefit their political party or help ensure their re-election.

n Printed in 1812, this political cartoon illustrates the electoral districts drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favor the incumbent Democratic. Republican party candidates of Governor Elbridge Gerry over the Federalists. n The name Gerrymandering comes from a combination of his name and salamander (representing the odd shapes these distorted districts form). n The cartoon depicts the bizarre shape of a district as a dragon.

Methods: “Packing and Cracking” n There are two main strategies behind gerrymandering: – maximizing the effective votes of supporters – minimizing the effective votes of opponents n Packing: to place as many voters of one type into a single district to reduce their influence in other districts. n Cracking: spreading out voters of a particular type among many districts in order to reduce their representation by ensuring they do not have enough votes to win in any particular district.

Packing and Cracking (EX. ) Redrawing the balanced electoral districts in this example creates a guaranteed 3 -to-1 advantage in representation for the magenta voters. n Here, 14 green voters are packed into one district and the remaining 18 are cracked across the 3 other districts. n

In 2003, Republicans in the Texas legislature redistricted the state, diluting the voting power of the heavily Democratic county by dividing (“cracking”) its residents out to more Republican districts. n The district in orange is the infamous "Fajita strip" district 25 ( mostly Hispanic, intended as a Democratic district), while the other two districts are intended to elect Republicans. n District 25 has now been redrawn as a result of the 2006 U. S. Supreme Court decision, and is no longer a "Fajita strip". n

Gerrymandering! Aided by computer, District 38 was produced by California's incumbent gerrymandering, as home to Grace Flores Napolitano, a Democrat, who ran unopposed in 2004.

Republicans do it too!